Albert had not lied. He really did have an appointment with Kingsley at noon, and it was probably about the Umbridge incident.
Although Kingsley had used the Umbridge incident to teach those troublesome "pure-bloods" who opposed him a harsh lesson, the consequences were equally severe. He had also offended all the wizards who had been harmed because of Umbridge.
A Minister of Magic who could neither help them take revenge nor bring them justice would naturally no longer remain popular.
That was why Kingsley had approached Albert himself, hoping Albert could act as an intermediary between the two sides and broker an unspeakable secret deal in exchange for the forgiveness of his former supporters.
It sounded utterly absurd, but their New Minister genuinely hoped the two sides could reach a private agreement and coexist peacefully.
"Why are you so certain Nelson Tobin did it?"
As he ate the steak on his plate, which did not particularly suit his taste, Albert looked up and asked, "Just because he bears a deep grudge against Umbridge?"
"Yes. I truly can't find any reason why Nelson Tobin wouldn't do something like that, but he definitely wasn't acting alone." Kingsley was practically wearing his suspicions on his face.
In truth, Kingsley suspected not only those wizards who already had grudges against Umbridge, but also that Albert had interfered in the matter. However, he could find neither a reason nor evidence for Albert to have done so.
Naturally, Kingsley was not foolish enough to bring it up in front of Albert.
"So you had Harry try to negotiate with them?"
Albert raised an eyebrow slightly. He felt that Kingsley had not actually placed much hope in Harry persuading them to cooperate with him.
Sure enough, Albert soon heard Kingsley say, "If Harry fails in these negotiations,